Workbench

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Dear makers. I currently live in Florida and a violin shop has asked me to teach its staff of set up people how to make a violin.

They need to buy a workbench which has a vice deep enough to hold my two violin plates as I plane them for joining. And this bench should have dogs. About ten years ago I bought great benches from a place in New York and assembled them for my classes at the university of New Mexico. I only need one sold bench That you would recommend. Nothing fancy or expensive, maybe five or six or even eight feet long

You don't need a vice if you have a bench with an apron - dogs and a crochet do the trick. Frankly, compared to a vice, this arrangement is far easier and quicker to manipulate, and is equally effective.

The linked bench above is a real tank- wont budge under any load. I reversed some of the design because I am a leftie.

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Dear makers. I currently live in Florida and a violin shop has asked me to teach its staff of set up people how to make a violin.

They need to buy a workbench which has a vice deep enough to hold my two violin plates as I plane them for joining. And this bench should have dogs. About ten years ago I bought great benches from a place in New York and assembled them for my classes at the university of New Mexico. I only need one sold bench That you would recommend. Nothing fancy or expensive, maybe five or six or even eight feet long

Cheap homemade dogs. Grooves added to increase gripping power (found to be necessary for cello plates). O-rings allow accurate height adjustment. Wobbly ends on the adjustable dogs were the heads of the bolts. Cut off to allow me to weld 2 nuts in their place and rivetted to the end of the bolt - AFTER screwing the bolt through the nuts! - and no - I didn't forget :-)

Well worth the making - especially for cello plates. Increases stability no end and greatly reduces the clamping force required. No denting of spruce plate.

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I hate to say it, but go visit satan, er' Amazon and use their search bar in ALL....I have a feeling that you'll find something there.

Amazon works with all types of suppliers, from small independent business to large, and based on their business model, often times has the best price. I can get certain stuff from amazon from stewmac cheaper than I can get it from stewmac direct sometimes, as an example

check out ; Windsor Design Workbench with 4 Drawers, 60 Hardwood....189.98$ it's got dogs and a built in vice....pretty awesome

keeping in mind, that someone like ourselves probably has the skill to build something like this....but the reality of the ," maybe ending soon cheap chinese goods gravy train" {including violins} is that we can't even buy the lumber to make something like this for 100 bucks...let alone all the shop time making it....

I suggest people buy stuff that they need now, cause if this "china thing" goes through , bing to tha' moon alice

Certainly it's an excellent example of how to achieve superb performance from the minimum material and cost.

After Brian left for California I moved one of those benches into the workshop of another Cape Town luthier and fastened it to a drywall. Although the drywall partition is much, much lighter than the brick wall it still works OK. (Used Fischer plugs and epoxy in place of Rawlplugs)

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Dear Edi, Juzzepi, and David Thank you all for the suggestions. Since six men and one woman work in this shop doing set ups, but not making, I have plenty of help and skill to build a good bench like the one Edi suggested. We will want to build a bigger bench because at some point we may make cellos, or after I retire other makers might want a really substantial bench. I’m not too sure about mounting a vise to the bench but I think we can figure that out. When I bought ten benches for my program at the University of New Mexico, one was really heavy duty and had two great, deep vises. All I can remember is they cane from some supplier in New York. They were very inexpensive and solid . Before we build a bench I am waiting for Klarissa, my successor, to see if she can identify the make.

I know Brian and David. David is a weight lifter I think and so he needs a bench mounted to concrete. You guys are great with the help and good humor.

If you want to sell any of your violins write to me at peter505white@gmail.com. My boss is looking to expand his stock to include individually made high quality American or European violins. I’ll put you in touch with him if you write to me

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Dear Edi, Juzzepi, and David Thank you all for the suggestions. Since six men and one woman work in this shop doing set ups, but not making, I have plenty of help and skill to build a good bench like the one Edi suggested. We will want to build a bigger bench because at some point we may make cellos, or after I retire other makers might want a really substantial bench. I’m not too sure about mounting a vise to the bench but I think we can figure that out. When I bought ten benches for my program at the University of New Mexico, one was really heavy duty and had two great, deep vises. All I can remember is they cane from some supplier in New York. They were very inexpensive and solid . Before we build a bench I am waiting for Klarissa, my successor, to see if she can identify the make.

I know Brian and David. David is a weight lifter I think and so he needs a bench mounted to concrete. You guys are great with the help and good humor.

If you want to sell any of your violins write to me at peter505white@gmail.com. My boss is looking to expand his stock to include individually made high quality American or European violins. I’ll put you in touch with him if you write to me

thanks

pete

Hi Peter - pictures contain stories beyond the telling.

You want to make cellos? Brian's cello is based on a Montagnana model - that's the one Nicole is making. It didn't trouble the bench at all.

The bench behind Nicole is where I worked and has a vise. It was there when it was needed and wasn't intrusive if you didn't need it. It is bolted into place with 4 bolts and a wooden spacer - to level the top of vise with the top of table. Other than preparing the joints and squaring up the neck block the vise sees very little work. Brian had 6 work stations and only 3 vises - there was never a situation where someone was waiting to get to a vise. You mention 10 work stations and 2 vises. So - as long as there are a couple of them.

The gap between the benches was too small to have both people working back-to-back - this only occurred when both Nicole and I were both busy doing arching. The solution was for me to stay on one side all the time, un-dogging and reversing the violin plate I was working on. That freed Nicole to dance around her cello plate.

I stand a touch under 6 foot and weigh ~ 215 lbs - until a few years back if I said "come" things moved! That short bench, bolted to a wall, that bench didn't shiver.

I would suggest that individual benches are the way to go. Room enough for working on the instrument and space for putting down the tools. More than that just seems to attract clutter. Everything on the bench-top within reach without having to leave your chair.

Maybe screw a piece of 22mm plywood, 250 - 300mm high to the one long edge of the bench with a couple of shelves for bit and pieces etc. Low enough to see over when seated.

Throw away the base of the anglepoise lamp and just drill a hole through the bench top to position the lamp exactly where needed.

Screw two cup hooks under the bench top and hang a plastic shopping bag from them. When planing, clear the shaving from the throat of the plane and drop it into the bag - becomes part of the rhythm and keeps the floor clean.

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Screw two cup hooks under the bench top and hang a plastic shopping bag from them. When planing, clear the shaving from the throat of the plane and drop it into the bag - becomes part of the rhythm and keeps the floor clean.

Oh my gawd! Real violinmaking shops do not have clean floors! Customers like shavings, and If there are no shavings on your floor, customers will assume you bought instruments from China and inserted your label.

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Oh my gawd! Real violinmaking shops do not have clean floors! Customers like shavings, and If there are no shavings on your floor, customers will assume you bought instruments from China and inserted your label.

Hi David - Brian was very, very firmly of that belief.

When he was making his quartet I'll swear that his room was never less than 4" deep in shavings! I couldn't bring myself to disturb the mess - it was truly impressive. Thank goodness none of us smoked.

During that period he "lost" his favourite small thumb plane. Never found it. I really felt for him - for months - when he thought no-one was watching, he would scratch around in the cupboards hoping to find it concealed under one or other of the things stuffed onto the shelves.

In the other room where I worked, at the end of a session I'd plug a long 75mm dia. flexible hose into his dust extractor and "make clean" - floor, drill press, band-saw, thicknesser and sanding disc. I was brought up to always leave things as I would like to receive them. Habits once formed can be the very devil :-)